1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid jetting apparatus, and more particularly, to the process of manufacturing a plurality of fluid jetting apparatuses, making use of a method of a polyimide nozzle which is capable of adapting to a print head in an output unit of an ink jet printer and a facsimile machine and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A print head is a part or a set of parts which is capable of converting output data introduced from a printer into something visible. Generally, the print head used for an ink jet printer and the like uses a fluid jetting apparatus which is capable of jetting a predetermined fluid held in a fluid chamber through a nozzle to the exterior by applying a physical force to the fluid in the fluid chamber.
FIG. 1 is a vertical cutaway view of a fluid jetting apparatus according to a conventional method of thermo-compression. The fluid jetting apparatus comprises roughly a heat driving part 10, a membrane 20 and a nozzle part 30. The method of thermo-compression is a method for heating a liquid instantly to vaporize the same and for jetting ink by driving the membrane 20.
The heat driving part 10 is formed by laminating an insulating layer 12, an electrode 13, a heat element 14 and a driving fluid barrier 15, sequentially on a substrate 11. At the etching part of the driving fluid barrier 15 a driving fluid chamber 16 is formed which is full of a driving fluid expandable by heat.
The membrane 20 is a thin diaphragm, and is driven toward the jetting fluid chamber 33 by the driving fluid which is heated by the heat element 14.
The nozzle part 30 contains a jetting fluid barrier 31 and a nozzle plate 32. At the etching part of the jetting fluid barrier 31 the jetting fluid chamber 33 is formed which is full of jetting fluid, and a nozzle 34 is formed in the nozzle plate for jetting the jetting fluid in the jetting fluid chamber 33 through the nozzle 34.
With reference to the above-mentioned structure of FIG. 1, the operations of the fluid jetting apparatus according to the thermo-compression method are as follows.
To begin with, if a power source is applied to the electrode 12, the heat element 14 generates heat, and the driving fluid in the driving fluid chamber 16 is expanded by the heat in order to push the membrane 20 toward an upper direction as shown in FIG. 1. As the membrane 20 is pushed toward the upper direction, the jetting fluid in the jetting fluid chamber 33 is jetted to the exterior of the jetting fluid apparatus through the nozzle 34. This method is so called the thermo-compression method, and other methods for jetting fluid are classified as a heating method and a piezoelectric method and the like, according to the means for applying physical forces to the jetting fluid.
Meanwhile, the conventional material of the nozzle plate 32 is mainly a metal made of nickel, but the trend in using a material such as a polyimide synthetic resin has increased recently. When the nozzle plate 32 is made of the polyimide synthetic resin, it is fed by a reel type. In feeding the nozzle plate 32 in the reel type, the fluid jetting apparatus is completed by the way it is bonded at once from the substrate of a silicon wafer to the jetting fluid barrier.
FIG. 2 shows a process of manufacturing the fluid jetting apparatus according to the conventional roll method. As shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle plate 32 rolls from a feeding reel 51 to a take-up reel 52. In the rolling process of the nozzle plate 32 from the feeding reel 51 to the take-up reel 52, a nozzle is formed at the nozzle plate 32 by a treating apparatus 53 using a laser beam. After the nozzle is formed, some air which is jetted from an air blower 54 eliminates extraneous substances attached to the nozzle plate 32. Next, an actuator chip 40, which is laminated from the substrate to the jetting fluid barrier, is bonded with the nozzle plate 32 by a tab bonder 55, and accordingly the fluid jetting apparatus is completed. The completed apparatus is wound to be preserved in the take-up reel 52, and then it is sectioned piece by piece in the manufacturing process of the print head. Accordingly, each piece of the apparatus is supplied into the manufacturing line of a printer.
But, in the process of manufacturing the fluid jetting apparatus according to the conventional roll method, with the exception of the nozzle plate formed on the silicon wafer, the semi-manufactured chips are sectioned piece by piece, and they are bonded with individual chips on the nozzle plate. Accordingly, there is a problem that the productivity is lowered due to a significant manufacturing time.